Del Mar Theatre

Marleen Rubin Capell, the daughter of the owner, Herman Rubin, notes was the "Mar" in the theatre's name. Marlene was born in 1932 and was named for Marlene Deitrich, who was famous at the time for "Blue Angel" (1930).

Marleen notes: "They charged about 7 cents for kids. They showed a cartoon, full length
movie, a western (because I told my Dad I wanted a western) and a
serial and probably a newsreel. There was a drawing at intermission for
large cans of popcorn and 6 paks of soda. My cousins also went every
Saturday. i remember going up on the stage to draw the winning tickets.
When we left everyone received a free Abazaba Bar."

Architect: Not known. The building was converted into a theatre from a furniture store.

Seating: 600

Status: It's been closed since the 80s. After a spell as a church, the building sat vacant for years.

The floor has been leveled and it now is used by Puget Sound, Inc. as a studio specializing in post production audio work. | Puget
Sound on Facebook |

Joe Milner, the owner of Puget Sound, restored the marquee and vertical neon which are on view nightly. With help from the city's Pico Revitalization Project the firm also repainted the facade and did refurbishment on the showcases. Bravo!

More
information: See the Cinema
Treasures page for a few stories about the Del Mar. Cinema Tour has a 2002 Bob Meza photo of the facade prior to restoration work.

We've tried to give appropriate credit. Please contact us if there are incorrect attributions, links that no longer work or other issues. A link near each image will direct you to a full size version on the website hosting it. Assume that all the images are subject to copyright restrictions. Contact the webmaster of the site inquestion concerning reproduction or other use.